Species · genus Selenicereus · Cactaceae

Nightblooming Cactus

Selenicereus undatus (Haw.) D.R.Hunt

Growth habit

succulent epiphyte

Native range

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest

Reference · S. undatus

Cultivars of S. undatus

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under S. undatus yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A climbing succulent epiphyte from Mexico and Central America, this is the dragon fruit cactus, built to drain fast and store water in its fleshy stems. Give it bright indirect light and a gritty, fast-draining mix, and water only when the top two inches have gone fully dry, easing off in winter. As an epiphyte it rots if left sitting wet, so err toward under-watering and let it approach dryness between drinks.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 21 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

13–32 °C

Soil mix

Coarse, fast-draining cactus mix

Propagation

Stem-segment cuttings callused then rooted; the dragon-fruit cactus

Fertilizing

Balanced cactus feed monthly in spring and summer

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Spectacular fragrant white flowers that open for a single night

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Nightblooming Cactus yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.